Ooops ! Any Ideas ?

[Fish Chris]

First off, I'm a dum bass !

So I hadn't been fishing for Stripers, for about 4 months (unheard of for me to go that long without fishing, but anyway) and so, > 4 months ago, I accidentally left a 13" Split Tail, in my 100 qt live well {icebox}

So I go to open the box, and Bam ! I swear there was 15 gallons of the ugliest, blue Grey colored water I have ever seen ! It didn't smell like fish, but rather a bunch of really foul roadkill !

Now, I sure wish that had been my old live well, as I'd have tossed it, and never looked back....

But this one is basically brand new !

So here's what I have tried.... I scrubbed the whole thing with dish detergent, and hot water, then, while it was still wet, I completely coated the whole thing with baking soda, and lit it sit, for a couple days.

Washed all that out yesterday morning, dried it, and sprayed the whole inside of it with the 100% real citrus spray {awesome air freshener if you can find it}

>figuring if the baking soda was really basic, and pushing everything that way, that as a followup, I'd hit it with something the other direction, toward acidic.

Then set it by my front door, open,

So today, when I came home from work, I walked up and it kinda' smelled like, you were on an orange farm, where the farmer had been shooting possums, and leaving them laying there !!!!

I'm sorry sir, but this is not acceptable !

You guys gotta help me out here !

What do I need ? Sulfuric Acid ? A bench grinder ? High explosives ? LOL

I REALLY don't want to have to throw this one away..... nor order another one

Thanks guys,

Fish

Edit: What about lye ? Where do you get that stuff ? What's it normally used for ?

Oh, I did think about bleach at first too.... but might have been using it as a livewell the next day, and was a little spooked by using chlorine.... of course I'd rinse it really well.

[slonezp]

Bleach

When my 50qt cooler smells like rotton fish I fill it with water and a cup of bleach and let it sit in the garage for 24-48 hours. Smells like clean laundry whin it's done LOL

[Alpster]

Get a gallon of white vinegar and a bottle of vanilla extract from the grocery store pour them both in your livewell and leave overnite. Make sure there is no more baking soda before you use the vinegar. After you use the above mixture, if you still have some odor, pour your used coffee grounds in the live well. They will absorb the left over smell. When all else fails, put it out in the sunshine and run a fan, airing it out takes a while but it works. Good luck.

Ronnie

[outdoorsman110]

Borax works great mixed with bleach.

[preach4bass]

That's why I love this site. You can ask a question about just about anything,and within an hour or so get a few great answers. And, the fact that these guys are offering advice on this issue, means they've done the same thing before. If I had to guess, I'd say we've all found something unpleasant in our coolers!

[Fish Chris]

Right on.

Thanks guys.

I think I might try all of those things...

And yea', our weather is supposedly going to turn really nice for us in the next day or two.... so the ice box will certainly be outside, and open... but I need to move it to the sunny side of the house

Fish

Oh hey, I forgot to say this, but it's pretty weird;

So, as I was saying, that stuff in the ice box was like some kind of blue grey soup ! However, their was no sign of an actual fish... no skin, no bones, not even the skull !

But when I emptied, and went to rinse the thing out the first time, there was like a photo copy of the split tail, printed right into the bottom of one end of the ice box ! It was perfect too ! You could see all the fin rays in the tail ! gill plate, eye socket ! How weird is that ?

Didn't hardly want to scrub out, either.

[Fish Chris]

That's why I love this site. You can ask a question about just about anything,and within an hour or so get a few great answers. And, the fact that these guys are offering advice on this issue, means they've done the same thing before. If I had to guess, I'd say we've all found something unpleasant in our coolers!

Totally agreed

Thanks again guys

Good fishing to all of you this Spring

Fish

[Bassn Blvd]

Scrub it with "release me" fish preserver.

[Fish Chris]

Scrub it with "release me" fish preserver.

Really ? That's a trip. Do you have any idea why, or how this is supposed to work ?

Fish

[Lund Explorer]

Bleach

When my 50qt cooler smells like rotton fish I fill it with water and a cup of bleach and let it sit in the garage for 24-48 hours. Smells like clean laundry whin it's done LOL

Bleach here too. Not only use it to take the smell out of the cooler, but I use it to sanitize the water tank on the camper before use.

Note - Never had a dead fish in the water tank though, thankfully!

[00 mod]

What kind of livewell is it? Just curious.

As for the lye soap, it is VERY drying, therefor making a great soap for curing poison ivy. Wash the area with the lye and after you dry off, rub the soap "paste" onto it and let it dry. Works miracles!

Jeff

[MrSwimJig]

Bleach works well and so does what Alpster posted.

[Sfritr]

You MELTED A FISH>>>>>>>> HAHAHAHAHA

Gross and Cool

[Fish Chris]

Got some bleach, some borax, scotch bright sponge pads, and disposable rubber gloves this evening....

Oh, I probably shouldn't mix the bleach and the borax, huh ? That just sounds bad......

Plan to hit it tomorrow morning before work.

Will report back.

Peace,

Fish

[Fishing Rhino]

Whatever you mix, do not mix bleach and ammonia. It will produce chlorine gas.

[Sam]

1. Simple Green to clean the inside of the box.

2. Put pure vanilla extract on a paper towel and wipe out the inside of the box.

3. Leave the soaked paper towel in the box.

Good luck.

[Fish Chris]

Okay guys, I scrubbed it with warm water, dish detergent, and borax, then rinsed and dried....

Then scrubbed with bleach, rinsed, and dried.

After work last night, it smelled 100 X's better.... only a hint of nastiness, which should eventually go away.

The vanilla extract sounds good > if I could afford it ! Seriously, I love that stuff for my oatmeal, but it's like $5 for 2 oz ! ......when what I really need, is a 5 gallon jug

Peace,

Fish

[00 mod]

What kind of livewell is it? Also you can get the vanilla really cheap in Mexico!

Jeff